Coaster caddy



March 30, 1965 H. LEVY 3,175,726

GOASTER cum Filed May 15, 1963 a Sheets-Sheet 1 March 30, 1965 LEVY 3,175,726

COASTER CADDY Filed May 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 30, 1965 LEVY 3,175,726

COASTER CADDY Filed May 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 ffaeaw .ZEVY

United States Patent 3,175,726 COASTER CADDY Harold Levy, 59 Nassau Drive, Kensington, Great Neck, Long Island, N.Y. Filed May 15, 1963, Ser. No. 280,591 4 Claims. (Cl. 220-103) This invention relates to household articles, and more particularly to a rack for carrying coasters for glassware, such as tumblers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel form of cup-shaped coaster having support means associated therewith enabling a set of coasters to be removably attached to a common carrying means whereby the coasters may be conveniently carried about from place to place in the home.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel type of coaster for water glasses or the like having a handle combined therewith for picking up the glass without the necessity of having the hands come in contact with the surface of the glass.

Other objects and advantages will be evident to those skilled in the art after reading the following specification in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view in elevation of a preferred form of carrying rack and set of coasters constructed in accordance with this invention; three of the coasters having been removed from the assembly and another one being shown separated from the rack on the right hand side;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the article shown in FIG. 1, with both of the end coasters having been removed;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 3 3 of FIG. 1, with all of the coasters having been removed, but with one coaster shown in a position after removal;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the invention with one of the coasters in a removed position;

FIG. 6 is a front view in elevation of a modified form of coaster and carrying rack set in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the article shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the modified form of coaster shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 with a portion of the glassware being broken away, and;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to that of FIG. 8 showing the manner in which the glass is removed from the coaster.

In the drawings, there is shown a preferred form of coaster-carrying rack, indicated generally by the numeral 10, with which there are associated a plurality of generally cup-shapedglassware-carrying coasters, indicated generally by the numeral 11.

The rack preferably comprises a horizontally extending elongated fiat strip of metal 12 supported adjacent its extremities on a pair of transversely extending horizontally disposed metal rods 13, which may be welded to the undersides thereof. The extremities 14 of these rods may be bent downwardly at an angle and provided with ball-shaped p-rotuberances 15 to act as decorative supporting feet for the entire assembly.

The extremities 16 of the flat strip 12 are turned vertically upwardly to another flat strip of metal 17, which is formed to define a horizontally elongated generally oval-shaped loop; the surface of this latter strip being disposed in a vertical plane.

Disposed at generally regularly spaced intervals about the periphery of the oval strip 17, are a series of slots 18 which extend downwardly from the upper margin of the oval strip for a purpose which will be later explained.

A bar, or rod 19, is also formed in the shape of a gen- "ice erally oval closed loop of substantially larger radius than that of the strip 17. This bar is supported on the horizontally extending portions of the rods 13 in a generally concentric relationship to strip 17, but with the upper edge of the bar 19 being disposed in a plane somewhat lower than the bottom of the slots 18.

For convenience in carrying the rack, with or without its associated coasters, a vertically extending post 20 may be secured at its lower end to the central portion of strip 12 by means of a threaded nut 21, the upper end of the post being appropriately secured to a decoratively designed carrying handle 22.

Each of the coasters 11 comprises a piece of metal extruded or stamped in a generally cup-shaped form having a cylindrical side wall 23 provided with an outwardly turned marginal rim 24 and a flat bottom 25.

These coasters are provided with one or more connector means for detachably securing the coaster to the rack for carrying. Such a connector means may comprise a ball-shaped enlargement 27 which may be soldered, or otherwise attached, as at 26 to the exterior surface of the side wall at a point spaced from the bottom.

It will thus be seen that the joint 26 between the ball and the wall of the coaster forms a sort of stem which is slidably received in one of the vertical slots 18 in the strip 17 and that a coaster can be secured to the rack by positioning a coaster in place by lowering it onto the rack so that one of the stem portions slides down in the slot with the ball portion projecting from the inner side of the supporting strip 17.

Since the ball, or knob, 27 will not pull forwardly through the slot 18, the coaster cannot fall off the rack and, in fact, would be held in place by the strip 17 alone because the portion of the side wall of the coaster below the ball is in direct abutting engagement with the lower portion of vertical strip 17.

However, additional support for the coasters is provided by the oval bar 19 upon which the fiat bottoms of the coasters rest when in place. The bar will also prevent tilting of the coasters which is particularly important when glasses containing liquids are positioned in the coasters while the rack is being carried.

Furthermore, while only one of the connector means, just described, would be required for each of the coasters, it will be observed that in each case, the coasters have been shown as being provided with three of these connectors spaced at equal distance about the periphery of the coaster. It will be obvious that this is merely a matter of convenience and that two connectors, or more than three, could be provided for each coaster.

In FIGS. 6 through 9, a modified form of coaster, indicated generally by the numeral 28, which serves to provide a handle for a glass carried in the coaster, is shown associated with the previously described form of coastercarrying rack 10.

The modified form of coaster may comprise a base which is formed by an extruded or stamped cup-shaped piece of metal having a cylindrical side wall 29 and a flat bottom 30. As with the previous form of coaster, the exterior of the side wall may be provided with one or more connectors which will include a ball or knob 32 soldered or otherwise connected thereto as at 31.

The handle comprises a metal strip having its lower end 33 secured by welding or riveting to the exterior of the side wall 29 so that the mid portion 34 may be bent to extend upwardly from the base and outwardly at a slight angle, the upper portion 35 of the strip being re-entrantly turned backwardly so that its terminal portion 36 projects downwardly in alignment with the lower portion 33 so as to be disposed in abutting relationship with the exterior of the upper portion of a glass 37 to be fitted in the coaster. Attached to the downwardly projecting terminal portion of the strip, as by soldering at 38, a ball, or knob, 40 is positioned to extend inwardly towards the center of the glass over the top of and closely adjacent the rim 3 9*. This ball is large enough so that it will project slightly below the inner surface of the rim to prevent the glass 37 from being accidentally detached from the coaster However, the handle portion is made of sufliciently springy material such that by exerting slight upward pressure on the curved portion 35, the knob 40 may be sprung upwardly and outwardly (as shown in FIG. 9) over the rim of the glass to permit its removal from: the coaster. Similarly, when the glass is inserted into the coaster, the knob 40 may easily be sprung over the rim and back into place (as shown in FIG. 8) to secure the glass within the coaster.

Furthermore, it will be evident that the modified form of coaster, either with or without a glass fitted therein, may be carried by the previously described rack 10 merely by inserting the portion 31 into one of the slots 18, whereby the ball 32 will prevent lateral displacement of the coaster while the bottom 30 will rest upon the oval bar 19.

Having thus described several forms in which the invention may be practiced, it will be evident that other modifications and improvements might be made by one skilled in the art which would come Within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a coaster for glassware and a sup porting rack for said coaster, said rack including, a handle and a supporting base for the handle, a vertically disposed length of strip material mounted on said base, said strip having a narrow recess extending downwardly from the upper margin thereof for only a portion of the height of the strip, said coaster having a cylindrical side wall portion, a laterally protruding element secured to said wall portion spaced from the lower edge thereof for slidable connecting engagement with said recess, and a horizontally extending member on said base for supporting the lower edge of said wall portion.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said vertical strip and said supporting member each are formed in endless generally concentric horizon-tally dis-- posed loops, said member being spaced outwardly from the vertical strip, said handle being centrally disposed With respect to said loops and said strip being provided with a plurality of said vertical recesses.

3. In combination, a coaster for glassware and a supporting rack for said coaster, said rack including, a handle and a supporting base for the handle, a vertically disposed length of strip material mounted on said base, said strip having a narrow recess extending downwardly from the upper margin thereof for only a portion of the height of the strip, said coaster having a vertical side wall portion, and a laterally extendingknob joined to said wall portion spaced from the lower edge thereof, the juncture between the knob and the wall portion forming a reduced portion slidably received in said recess.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3, wherein said vertical strip is formed in an endless horizontally disposed loop and is provided with a plurality of said vertical recesses, said handle being disposed centrally with respect to said loop.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 88,100 10/32 Leham .a 215-100 155,928 10/74 Collier 2l177 1,060,048 4/13 Wetzel 220 X 1,167,934 l/16 Roth 211-77 1,428,758 9/22 Cowles 2l5100 X 1,781,357 11/30 Wolcott 220-102 2,896,812 7/59 Paprocki. 2,898,755 8/59 Josephson 248-174 X 3,107,028 10/ 63 Robertis 22085 X OTHER REFERENCES Gift and Art Buyer, July 1963, page 7.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A COARSER FOR GLASSWARE AND A SUPPORTING RACK FOR SAID COARSER, SAID RACK INCLUDING, A HANDLE AND A SUPPORTING BASE FOR THE HANDLE, A VERTICALLY DISPOSED LENGTH OF STRIP MATERIAL MOUNTED ON SAID BASE, SAID STRIP HAVING A NARROW RECESS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE UPPER MARGIN THEREOF FOR ONLY A PORTION OF THE HEIGHT OF THE STRIP, SAID COASTER HAVING A CYLINDRICAL SIDE WALL PORTION, A LATERALLY PROTRUDING ELEMENT SECURED TO SAID WALL PORTION SPACED FROM THE LOWER EDGE THEREOF FOR SLIDABLE CONNECTING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RECESS, AND A HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING MEMBER ON SAID BASE FOR SUPPORTING THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID WALL PORTION. 